“We know, when opening the book, how it ends…However, the daily notes taken by Alexander Werth, have such a strong sense of evocation that we find find ourselves gripped, practically kept in suspense.” —Le Mondes des Livres

A poignant testimonial about the first days of the German occupation of Paris in 1940.

May 1940: France surrenders. Two months later, Marshal Pétain takes full power and the Vichy regime settles in while the Germans invade the country.

As a British journalist in Paris, Alexander Werth he writes about the spectacular rallies for what will become Vichy, the daily compromises, and the cowardice of an elite only concerned about the survival of its level of comfort.

Werth writes about a Paris caught between panic and a denial of reality, and about the Parisians desire to live as an unequivocal priority despite what’s happening.

He writes about the streets, the Parisians…after the obligatory first hours of dejection and discouragement, the café terraces become full, good moods replace concern, people move about, they discuss, they laugh…

As Werth was short for time since he had to escape back to London, a journey he also writes about, first wrote his diary in French and then translated it into English for publication in 1941.

Alexander Werth was a Russian-born, naturalized British writer, journalist, and war correspondent. His best-known work is Russia at War 1941 to 1945, (London, 1964) a behind-the-scenes look at life in the wartime Soviet Union; he spent the war there as the BBC’s correspondent, and had unrivaled access due to the combination of his BBC press credentials and his ability to function as a native Russian speaker.